Within the context of, for example, public transport, there exists a need to identify the number of passengers on board a vehicle. Within a number of train stations, attempts are made to monitor and identify the individuals boarding trains by controlling access to train platforms. Barriers and the like are used to allow passengers access to station platforms upon presenting a valid ticket.
However barriers only provide an indication of the number of passengers accessing platforms and do not provide an accurate indication of the actual number of people boarding a particular train. That is to say, having passed through a barrier, a passenger is usually presented with a number of platform options and timings of trains, all of which could be accessed despite only having a valid ticket for one specific journey.
Furthermore barriers could potentially be evaded, thereby casting doubt as to the true number of passengers on any particular route or train.
For the above reasons, at least in part, it remains normal practice to ensure that, as far as possible, each passenger's ticket is validated once on board a train by a conductor. However the manual checking of tickets is labor intensive and cannot provide a completely accurate picture of passengers embarking and disembarking since the manual checking of tickets incurs a significant time delay. Furthermore it is difficult to positively ascertain whether or not a particular passenger has disembarked at the correct station after his/her ticket has been initially checked.
The above problems result in a reduction in revenue for public transport operators, thereby reducing the available funds for maintaining and upgrading passenger vehicles and lines. Furthermore the uncertainty over occupancy of any particular vehicle represents a potential safety risk in the event of an emergency.
Whilst the above problems are described in relation to rail transport services, they are also applicable to passenger vehicles including buses, coaches, ferries and other vessels, as well as aircraft. It is acknowledged that some of the above problems are reduced by increasing security measures at airports, seaports, etc. in order to more tightly control access to such modes of transport. However such measures are typically labor intensive and reliant on manual checks.